§ Mr. Fryasked the Secretary of State for Transport whether he will state his 775W Department's current policy with regard to the provision of safety barriers on motorways and other dual-carriageway roads; and whether he intends to change this policy to take account of any plans to build all-purpose dual-carriageway roads instead of motorways in accordance with his decision to reduce the design standards of many new roads.
§ Mr. HoramThe current policy is to provide a central reserve barrier on all motorways and on those all-purpose dual-carriageway trunk roads where the risk of cross-over accidents is shown to be high. In these latter cases each proposal is judged on its merits.
Verge barriers are provided on motorways and all-purpose dual-carriageway trunk roads where they are on high embankments, on embankments with an abnormal hazard at the foot of the slope, on the outside of tight curves on embankment or where there are obstructions such as bridge abutments. We have no present intention of changing this policy.